UPMC nurses begin one-day strike

February 11, 2014

About 250 registered nurses from UPMC Altoona gathered in front of the hospital at 7 a.m. today to begin a 24-hour strike to protest the hospital's breaking off negotiations recently on a new contract without resolving issues of staffing, health insurance and pensions.

A dozen Penelec workers who've been locked out of their jobs for 11 weeks, also in a contract dispute, stood quietly around fires in rings set up on the snow in a normally grassy area across the street to support the nurses, who have supported them.

The nurses chanted slogans, carried signs and walked back and forth on the sidewalk, mostly between the main entrance and the area near the hospital helipad.